I was dead set on getting the Audio Technica ATH-M50 after hearing how good they were. I bought a pair for my dad a couple weeks ago and indeed they sounded great. I was in my local shop today and noticed a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro on the shelf. I know these are also highly regarded so decided to try out a pair on a Roland Fantom 8 and they too sounded great! Very clear, detailed and not overly done on any frequency range. Now I am stuck! Both the AT and the BD are within $10 of each other so no problem financially deciding. If anyone had to pick between these two which would you get and why? I am going to hold off on my purchase till I get some more feedback. My dadn't doesn't live relatively close by so unfortunately I can't easily try out the ATH-M50 again to compare to the BD DT770 Pro.

EDIT... I understand there is two versions as well, an 80 ohm and a 250 ohm version. The one at the shops I tried were the 250 ohm variant. They were powered straight from the Fantom keyboard itself without a headphone amp. I understand the higher ohm version is better suited towards using a headphone amp. Is there any difference between the 80 ohm and the 250 ohm version other than the power rating? I have heard that the 80 ohm version are slightly better? In what regard I have no idea. If anyone can chime in on that please do. They will be used straight from the headphone out of my Mackie 1402VLZ-Pro if that means anything. Which would I be better off getting? I understand even the 80 ohm version can benefit from a headphone amp?

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. Perhaps I should also look into the HD650 since it also gets a lot of mention? Competition is a great thing in the world of products, but it also makes it quite hard to decide on just one thing!

Well this really sucks. I borrowed my dads ATH-M50 for this week to give them a good work out. I find they sound great, but I really wanted to try the DT770 at home while I have the ATH-M50 here to A/B them and find out which I like better. Turns out I wasted my time going to my local shop as they won't allow me to rent out headphones for hygiene reasons. I asked if I could buy them and return them if I didn't like them and they said no for the same reason! Bah, now I am at a total loss at which to get, cause for $200 I am stuck with whatever I come home with, even if I could have done better. I really don't know which pair to get.

Well this really sucks. I borrowed my dads ATH-M50 for this week to give them a good work out. I find they sound great, but I really wanted to try the DT770 at home while I have the ATH-M50 here to A/B them and find out which I like better. Turns out I wasted my time going to my local shop as they won't allow me to rent out headphones for hygiene reasons. I asked if I could buy them and return them if I didn't like them and they said no for the same reason! Bah, now I am at a total loss at which to get, cause for $200 I am stuck with whatever I come home with, even if I could have done better. I really don't know which pair to get.

Tell them you'll pay the full price but take the demo pair. If they work out you'll come back in a few days and exchange for new. If they don't work out you'll give them back their demo pair and get your money back.

Tell them you'll pay the full price but take the demo pair. If they work out you'll come back in a few days and exchange for new. If they don't work out you'll give them back their demo pair and get your money back.

Thanks for the suggestion but I already tried. Unfortunately they have no 'demo pairs', only new in box. They said for the rare times they do get demo pairs of higher end cans they end up being used in store for the V-Drums etc.

I have my dads pair of ATH-M50 here already and they do sound good. Since I really can't find an easy way to try the DT770 in my own working environment, I may just get the ATH-M50 since it is guaranteed. I really don't feel like wasting $250 right now with buyers remorse.

Beyer 770 pro: Freakin Awesome. I have not heard the AT 50's but I tried them on, since they were daintfully hanging on the headphone rack at my dealer, and their is no comparison: Beyers are easily 5x more comfortable. Once you put on Beyers, they stay put and ofcourse keep your ears dry. Add that to their well balanced sound stage and your dealing witrh a Studio Standard pair of headphones.

Oh, Im buying some AT-50's in the near future to replace my Sony 7506's so heck buy either or but Beyers are a step up from the 50's.

If it helps, new ATH-M50s are only $110 or so on e-bay. I picked up a pair there and they are quite nice. I usually use them or my old pair of AKG K-500s depending on what I'm listening to. The Beyers are @$144 a pair, new, on ebay. So you could get both for @ $250.

I'm going to check out ebay, thanks for the suggestion. With me being in Canada however I have to find a seller who doesn't gouge on shipping and whom will ship with USPS to help me avoid brokerage fees.

+1 on the M50s . Great phones, got rid of 2 Beyer DT100's which I just hated Bought a set of M50s and 3 sets of M40s with the proceeds.
The ONLY thing I dont like about the M50's is the curly lead, its a pain in the arse, always getting tangled...meh

Recently discovered the Beyers... Love 'em. they lack a bit of the detail that my Grados have, but they're far "friendlier" to listen to, are 10x more comfortable, and I still make good mix decisions with them...

+1 on the M50s . Great phones, got rid of 2 Beyer DT100's which I just hated Bought a set of M50s and 3 sets of M40s with the proceeds.
The ONLY thing I dont like about the M50's is the curly lead, its a pain in the arse, always getting tangled...meh

You can also get the ATH-M50 with a straight cable (ATH-M50S). That's what I have. Price difference is negligible.

There seems to be as many for and against. I'm leaning towards the ath-m50s though. People seem to think that the m50s are less flattering and more true to the source. But the extended bass of the dt770s appeal to me as i don't mix with a sub at the moment.

Beyers always sound pretty good to me, but don't overlook the new Shures [all 3 models] that sound better than the AT's to me...and are reasonably priced, and Shure will repair them, and stand by their products! I have had a demo pair of the Shures in the studio, and have had my clients a/b against my other studio phones [fostex t20's, AT40's, Sony's, and AKG240's] and they all like the Shures better... not that scientific, but telling none the less. For the CR I have the Shures, Beyer's, Sennheisers, and Grado. They all sound different, and have various levels or isolation, bass response, HF, etc.
Most of these don't hold up all that well to daily abuse by my clients, and I can't say that spending $1k every few years on headphones is very exciting compared to buying a new toy! Shure builds rugged products and services them very, very well.

FWIW, I would not choose the ATs if Beyers were available (but whether I would choose closed Beyers such as the 770s or an open-back design such as the 880 would depend on whether I was most concerned with isolation or reference - but either way, I'd go with Beyers).

Well, some of those prices were with free shipping (at least in the States), so the incremental cost of shipping to Canada shouldn't be too bad.

Got mine for $85 off eBay with free shipping...

Also, shipping to Canada can be expensive. I sold a Emu 1212m to a guy in Canada, shipping was $40 for the cheapest of all the different shipping services. Guy left me bad feedback and never paid for it either!

Also, shipping to Canada can be expensive. I sold a Emu 1212m to a guy in Canada, shipping was $40 for the cheapest of all the different shipping services. Guy left me bad feedback and never paid for it either!

Free trade at its finest. Brokerage fees kill and sales tax on new cross border purchases. You would think 2 countries right beside each other could do a better job of this in 2010. That would kill the pigs at the trough and they don't like that